THE NEGOTIATION: The (Unofficial) Inside Story of Mayweather-Pacquiao - June 2010

[Vito Corleone]

You vanished once this whole Floyd thing broke out, and now you appear with this?

I call bull****!

Anyway, I don't care either way. Getting off of work now...

And as before,

GOD BLESS

I vanished? I was on here for four hours last night. Check the post history, primo.

As the disclaimer said: if you think it's BS, stop reading, move along.

Why comment?

[Roy Hobbs]

Disclaimer: I do not have a link. If you need that, stop reading now, assume what follows is all bull****, and don't even comment. However, if you have an open (but still skeptical) mind, and want a perspective, read on. Also, we won't be calling silly names or "coward" in this thread. Or you will be invited not to participate.

A contact within the boxing media shared his understanding of what happened and why the negotiations failed. And there's blame to spread on both sides.

First of all, there is a misunderstanding from the press conference. ARUM said that 'there was no message' from Team Mayweather. Many people (myself included) took this to mean that Team mayweather never responded. That was not the case. There was a back-n-forth dialogue between the camps. So, whether Arum misspoke, or was misunderstood, let's just establish that there was an exchange and a somewhat real negotiation going on.

The skinny: Back in December, the last deal that was on the table was the 14 day cutoff and 50/50 purse split. Pac was cool with 50/50, not cool with 14 days, and Pac walked away. We all know that.

Now, in February (2/15/10 to be exact), Floyd announced that the 14day, 50/50 deal was off the table. He announced that to David Mayo and some other media. Floyd went on to fight Shane using random drug testing.

http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/The...er_the_weekend

"I gave him a chance, up to 14 days out. But my new terms are all the way up to the fight. They can come get us whenever, all the way up to the fight, random drug test. That's what it is."



"[If the Mosley-Mayweather pay-per-view does better than Pacquiao-Clottey], instead of 20 or 25 [million dollars], he may have to drop to 15, or 17. And you know me, they may have to throw that extra 5 or 10 on mine, and we can rock and roll. Take it or leave it."



So, shortly after the May/Moz fight, Pac announced that he was willing to do 14 days, and that all the obstacles were now gone. I believe the Pac quote was "Now Floyd has no reason not to fight". But in the Mayweather camp, they weren't even considering the 14 day cutoff as viable anymore, because they just did true OST with Mosley - random. And outsold Pac yet again.

Additionally (and to my surprise) Floyd did ask for a higher revenue split based on outselling Pac in pretty much all their fights. So, when Koncz said Floyd asked for a 60/40 split, that appears to be true.

Arum and Pac have stuck to their guns on the 14 day, 50/50 tip. They did send a proposal to Floyd. That was 14 day, 50/50. That contract is essentially laughable to Team Mayweather.

The reason Bob Arum is not specifying what “the terms” are is because Team Pac is essentially offering the same terms that they declined six months ago. Not good from a negotiation standpoint. Not ideal from a PR standpoint.

The reason Arum seems so conciliatory towards Floyd is because he got direct feedback from Ross about his approach. Arum has called Mayweather a coward, has insulted Richard in the media (saying that RS doesn’t have boxing knowledge to understand, etc) and has insulted Oscar and HBO executives as well. Just overall surly.

Mayweather fans: Floyd and Team May have not been responsive or very communicative. They have taken a hard line . Basically a “**** Arum” approach. They feel they are in the driver’s seat, and they want their terms. Full random testing, and the higher revenue share. Team May shares the blame for not pushing hard in negotiations. Their stance is “take it or leave it”. Floyd made $65 million in the past ten months. He isn’t pressed.
Plus, Floyd doesn’t want to give one extra dime to Arum, who has been insulting him in the media for a year straight.

Pacquiao fans: Manny and Bob were deceptive in negotiations. They came back to the offer from last year when they knew that offer was no longer valid or acceptable. It also begs the question: If 14 days and 50/50 is a great deal now, what made it such an unacceptable deal six months ago? Were you dealing in good faith? Team Pac must be faulted for not accepting the realities of the revenue and PPV history, and not accepting 43%, 45% or 48%.
Roach said “we have agreed to all Mayweather’s terms. Many will take ANY test to get Floyd in the ring”. But then in the contract, they put the 14 day cutoff.

Further, Arum is deceptive to the public – speaking only half-truths. He gives tons of detail on the trivialities, and you haven’t heard anything about contract specifics.


So, that is what I have been told. It sounds reasonable to me. Nobody is scared of anybody. It’s a hard line negotiation by two sides that hate each other and neither wants to budge. If Pac wants the fight, why not make a concession? If May wants the fight, why not negotiate harder?

My personal feeling? If Arum was not involved, things would go better. Everything that Arum does just feels slimy and shady. Arum knows that Haymon doesn't play the media game, and Bob sets up one-sided press conferences. And has been talking to the media for weeks.

Discuss. Don’t flame.

i think floyd gave the worst possible answer he could give to the media for declining the fight. i agree & have made a thread about this. floyd would have been much better served declining the fight based on wanting full random testing or getting the bigger share based on higher ppv. he gave the pr upper hand right back to top rank & pacman with this answer.

[omarinbox]

Arum likes to put a little gum into the gears so he can promote his Top Rank boys.

He even promoted some of his fights on the conference call if I remember right.

I guess its his website tho.

[Spacey1991]

Didnt floyd just say there was nothing wrong with the contract, he just wanted time?

He didn't say that, all he said is that he isn't interested in Manny at the moment, he didn't mention one thing about the contract in the quote. People have been misinformed when the article said that Floyd had no complaints about the contract, there was no quote of him talking about the contract.

[Spacey1991]

Actually, not trying to grasp on straws here but the title is also wrong... it says Floyd Mayweather: I am not interested in Pacquiao right now but in the quote he didn't even mention Mannys name... just that he isn't thinking about Boxing right now. Obviously he would of said that after being asked about Manny though.

[Vito Corleone]

Actually, not trying to grasp on straws here but the title is also wrong... it says Floyd Mayweather: I am not interested in Pacquiao right now but in the quote he didn't even mention Mannys name... just that he isn't thinking about Boxing right now. Obviously he would of said that after being asked about Manny though.

Agreed.

Shortly after this quote, people were posting on Facebook that "Floyd doesn't want to fight Manny".

[Vito Corleone]

Arum likes to put a little gum into the gears so he can promote his Top Rank boys.

He even promoted some of his fights on the conference call if I remember right.

I guess its his website tho.

Ric Lois just talked about that on TBT,

Side note: Much love to The Comedian for a good question re: Kirkland.

[tibbar]

this is a lot of BS, first off the title itself is BS, what inside story you mean, thats deceptive, you only want what bloggers are after, you want hits to your thread. Inside Story B***S***!@#@%$#&!!!
this is the work of a Floyd Mayweather apologists. *****s try to defend floyd by collecting snippets of info already previously spread out through the web in different times and reported by different reporters and bloggers and weaved it into an supposed "official" story as if it comes from a source inside of the concerned group to defend the action of their idol when in fact its nothing but personal opinion and interpretation of a *****. Inside Story my ass! GTFOH.

[aus box]

Ric Lois just talked about that on TBT,

Side note: Much love to The Comedian for a good question re: Kirkland.

Im just putting it out there u have to be one of the most biased persons on this forum

u say if manny is essentially offering the same contract that floyd originally offered him then why dont floyd take it if it was a good enuf contract to offer manny in the first place

why cant u see it for what it is no other great fighter in the history has had to take these tests and no1 questions there greatness its a simple case of floyd trying to bully in the negotitions and manny not letting him have it

1 question wat illegal **** can u take and not get caught for if u blood test 30 days b4 the fight 14 days b4 the fight and staight after the fight and even if there is something, i dont think anyone would be that ****** to try and get away with something in that small time frame just for the chance it still does get picked up in one of the tests.

[Vito Corleone]

this is a lot of BS, first off the title itself is BS, what inside story you mean, thats deceptive, you only want what bloggers are after, you want hits to your thread. Inside Story B***S***!@#@%$#&!!!
this is the work of a Floyd Mayweather apologists. *****s try to defend floyd by collecting snippets of info already previously spread out through the web in different times and reported by different reporters and bloggers and weaved it into an supposed "official" story as if it comes from a source inside of the concerned group to defend the action of their idol when in fact its nothing but personal opinion and interpretation of a *****. Inside Story my ass! GTFOH.

You're whining like a three dollar ho. The first paragraph state "no whining", sissy.